The men’s tennis team had an extremely successful tournament against Ramapo College last week on Wednesday, Sept. 28. It was their first win of the season, with a 7-0 sweep on Fordham’s home courts. Both the doubles play and the singles play were phenomenal, showing how solid and strong a team men’s tennis has come to be. Head coach Mike Sowter commented on the team’s 7-0 victory, “It was a great team effort, a great warm up for the Invitational, and a nice start to the season.”
The tournament started with three doubles matches, with Fordham winning all of them, earning the doubles point. Freshmen Jeremy Chung and Allen Thornes came in with the first win for first doubles with a score of 6-0, followed by second doubles players, sophomore Victor Li and senior Nick Borak, with a score of 6-0, and then third doubles players, freshman Steven Duka and junior Joseph Kavaloski, with a score of 6-3. Once again, the Rams displayed expert marksmanship with their communication on the court and their dominance at the net. Li commented on the team’s intensity, saying, “We played hard and it was a good way to start with high confidence going in to the invitational part of the season.”
For the singles play, Li took on the first singles spot, winning 7-5, 6-3. Second singles player Borak won his match with a score of 6-4, 6-1. Duka, playing third singles, won 6-2, 6-1. In fourth singles, Kavaloski defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-0, while fifth singles player, freshman Gabriel Mashaal, won his match 6-0, 7-5. Junior Harris Durkovic closed out his match in sixth singles with a score of 6-2, 6-2.
“It’s nice to get some match experience in during the early weeks of the season, especially since we have a young team overall,” said Durkovic. “These matches give us the chance to try out some different doubles pairings and work on being aggressive during match situations.”
Sept. 28 was a great day for the Fordham Rams, as they celebrated their first sweeping win of the season. This is undoubtedly due to their hard work and dedication at practice. It is clear that this is a tight-knit team with members that support each other through all their practices, matches and tournaments. Seeing as this is only the beginning of the season, Fordham’s tennis team will only get better as they go. Duka emphasized this point, saying, “We had lots of high intensity on all the courts. We’re working hard every day and we’re trying to keep the momentum going for our next tournament.”
The tennis team’s next tournament was scheduled to be Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Quinnipiac Invitational. However, this tournament was cancelled due to the weather conditions. The Rams will be playing again this upcoming weekend, Oct. 8-9, on Fordham’s home courts. It is an all-day Fordham Quad Tournament, where they will be playing against Wagner, Hofstra and Saint Peter’s.
